Rack for collapsible tubes



Sept. 5, 1967 H. A. BOESCH 3,

RACK FOR COLLAPSIBLE TUBES Filed June 10, l965 FIG.3

INVENTOR United States Patent 3,339,748 RACK FOR COLLAPSIBLE TUBES Horst A. Boesch, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, (111 Delson Blvd., Delson, La Prairie County, Quebec, Canada) Filed June 10, 1965, Ser. No. 462,877 2 Claims. (Cl. 211-81) This invention relates to bathroom accessories and more particularly to a rack for the orderly retention of a plurality of paste tubes and dispensing thereof.

It is conventional practice to utilize a variety of paste tubes in a bathroom, such as for instance tooth paste, hair dressing, creams, shampoo and the like. Such tubes are usually kept in rather disorderly fashion either in a drawer or in a medicine cabinet where they take up useful shelf space and require specific examining for the user to pick out the right paste tube for the particular purpose.

A variety of dispensing mechanisms mainly for dispensing of contents of individual paste tubes have been devised but most of these have been comparatively complicated and therefore expensive to acquire and have only been able to accommodate one paste tube each.

It is the object of this invention to provide a paste tube rack that may be fastened on to the wall in for instance a bathroom in the vicinity of the wash basin and retain a plurality of paste tubes in orderly side by side relation, each paste tube location in the rack being supplied with personal marking means to provide information of contents of the particular paste tube.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a paste tube rack containing alignment means in the base thereof in the form of parallel disposed V grooves to receive the flattened end of each paste tube and maintain all adjacent paste tubes in parallel alignment with each other, thereby presenting an orderly and appealing appearance.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide a paste tube rack including mean for orderly retention of paste tubes of various lengths, thereby to accommodate paste tubes continually as they are used up and become reduced in size due to the bottom flattened end being rolled towards the opening orifice thereof.

It is another object of this invention to provide a paste tube rack containing means for selectively dispensing the individual paste tube from the rack into the hands of the user.

These and other objects and features of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tooth paste rack embodying this invention.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the tooth paste rack shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional side elevation of the tooth paste rack shown in FIG. 2 taken on the line 33.

Referring to FIGURES l, 2 and 3, the paste tube rack, generally designated as 11 comprises a back wall 12, two side walls 13 and 14 and a base 15, a plurality of intermediate spacing walls 16 being located, parallel disposed, between end walls 13 and 14 to provide a plurality of individual compartments 17 in rack 11, each compartment 17 having an open top and an open front.

A V-block 18 is pivotably located in each compartment 17, the V 19 facing upward from base and being 3,339,748 I Patented Sept. 5, 1967 ice located in parallel relationship with end walls 13 and 14, V 19 being in one paste tube storage position located horizontally, substantially parallel to base 15.

A forward and downward extending lever 20 is attached to front end of V-block 18, V-block 18 being pivoted on a pivot axle 21 that extends through all intermediate walls 16 from end wall 13 to end wall 14 and acts as a common pivot axle for all the V-blocks 18 in rack 11.

Lever 20 may be widened to provide sufiicient space for marking of the particular contents of the paste tube located in the pertinent compartment thereby permitting the user to press the pertinent lever 20 downwards and backwards, causing V-block 18 to pivot about axle 21, forcing V 19 upwards and outwards from compartment 17 thereby forcing the particular paste tube 22 located in that particular compartment, upwards and outwards into the hand of the user, release of pressure on lever 20 permitting the V-block 18 to return to its horizontal position on the base 15 due to the excess of weight of the V- block 18 on the compartment side of axle 21 causing V-block 18 to return to its original storage position.

It will readily be seen that V-blocks 18 will retain all paste tubes in parallel alignment with regard to the rolled base portion thereof, thereby providing an orderly appearance yet permitting accommodation of paste tubes of varying lengths according to the amount of paste that has been dispensed from each tube.

Rack 11 may be supplied with holes 23 to accommodate screw means for fastening rack 11 onto a wall or may be supplied with adhesive means or glue means on the back of back wall 12 whereby rack 11 in conventional manner may be fastened onto tiles or the like in a bathroom.

A cut out portion 24 on the front edge of base 15 will permit V-block 18 for instance to pivot to a 45' position with base 15, the edge of cut out 24 acting as a stop against lever 20, permitting the user to press down on lever 20 with a certain force until it reaches the stop whereby paste tube 22 will be projected into the hand of the user rather than slide sluggishly down V 19, thereby facilitating rapid dispensing of the paste tube into the users hand.

It will be noted that the paste tube rack embodying this invention is extremely simple and inexpensive to produce, being ideally suited for production from for instance plastics, therefore making it easily attainable by anyone.

The general design of the individual parts of my invention, as explained above, may be varied according to requirement in regards to manufacture and production thereof while still remaining within the spirit and principle of my invention, without prejudicing the novelty thereof.

I claim:

1. A paste tube rack comprising an elongated horizontal base having a front edge, a rear edge and two end edges, a rear wall extending vertically upwards from said rear edge, two end walls extending vertically upwards, one from each of said end edges of said base, at least one dividing wall located between said end walls and in parallel relationship therewith, providing at least two compartments in said paste tube rack, a horizontal axle located substantially towards said forward edge of said base between said end walls and extending through said dividing wall, each said compartment being supplied with a V- block pivotably located on said axle, said V-block resting upon said base in paste tube storage position, the V in said V-blook facing upward and being in substantially horizontal position upon said V-block being in said storage position, said V-block having a forward end forward of said axle, said forward end of said V-block being supplied with a forward and downward extending lever, said front edge of said base is provided with a cut-out for each said lever to permit limited movement of said lever to a stop upon said lever abutting said edge of said cut-out, upon downward and rearward directed pressure exerted to bias said V-block out of its horizontal storage position for dispensing of a paste tube located thereon.

2. A paste tube rack as claimed in claim 1, in which each said lever is sufliciently wide to accommodate marking means for identification of contents of each paste tube located in each said compartment.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS,

Examiners. W. D. LOULAN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A PASTE TUBE RACK COMPRISING AN ELONGATED HORIZONTAL BASE HAVING A FRONT EDGE, A REAR EDGE AND TWO END EDGES, A REAR WALL EXTENDING VERTICALLY UPWARDS FROM SAID REAR EDGE, TWO END WALLS EXTENDING VERTICALLY UPWARDS, ONE FROM EACH OF SAID END EDGES OF SAID BASE, AT LEAST ONE DIVIDING WALL LOCATED BETWEEN SAID END WALLS AND IN PARALLEL RELATIONSHIP THEREWITH, PROVIDING AT LEAST TWO COMPARTMENTS IN SAID PASTE TUBE RACK, A HORIZONTAL AXLE LOCATED SUBSTANTIALLY TOWARDS SAID FORWARD EDGE OF SAID BASE BETWEEN SAID END WALLS AND EXTENDING THROUGH SAID DIVIDING WALL, EACH SAID COMPARTMENT BEING SUPPLIED WITH A VBLOCK PIVOTABLY LOCATED ON SAID AXLE, SAID V-BLOCK RESTING UPON SAID BASE IN PASTE TUBE STORAGE POSITION, THE V IN SAID V-BLOCK FACING UPWARD AND BEING IN SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL POSITON UPON SAID V-BLOCK BEING IN SAID STORAGE POSITION, SAID V-BLOCK HAVING A FORWARD END FORWARD OF SAID AXLES, SAID FORWARD END OF SAID V-BLOCK BEING SUPPLIED WITH A FORWARD AND DOWNWARD EXTENDING LEVER, SAID FRONT EDGE OF SAID BASE IN PROVIDED WITH A CUT-OUT FOR EACH SAID LEVER TO PERMIT LIMITED MOVEMENT OF SAID LEVER TO A STOP UPON SAID LEVER ABUTTING SAID EDGE OF SAID CUT-OUT, UPON DOWNWARD AND REARWARD DIRECTED PRESSURE EXERTED TO BIAS SAID V-BLOCK OUT OF ITS HORIZONTAL STORAGE POSITION FOR DISPENSING OF A PASTE TUBE LOCATED THEREON. 